There has been proposed a user fault monitoring and controlling system which determines whether a fault in a user terminal is detected in an operating time and outputs a fault message as long as the fault is detected in the operating time (for example, refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 7-56770).
As has been well known, a remote notification service in which a customer apparatus notifies a remote support center (hereinafter, referred to as “center”) of hardware and software faults of the customer apparatus which is a processing apparatus used by a customer by an electronic mail and the center reacts the fault of the customer apparatus. In the remote notification service, when the customer apparatus notifies the center of the fault of the customer apparatus, the customer apparatus periodically sends a connection mail to the center to ascertain whether a communication path is established between the customer apparatus and the center and the center receives the connection mail, thereby monitors the communication path.
For example, when a transmission time of the connection mail from the customer apparatus to the center is set to a holiday night, while a system is suspended to perform maintenance of the customer apparatus without respect to the transmission time, the connection mail is not sent from the customer apparatus. Since the connection mail does not arrive at the center in the set transmission time, the center detects a communication connection fault and issues an incident which is a connection fault notification that represents the communication connection fault between the center and the customer apparatus. For example, a supporting staff in the center checks the content of the incident. However, the number of responding staffs is decreased at holiday nights, so that it takes much time for the supporting staff to check the incident one by one. For example, when the supporting time of a contract for the customer apparatus is restricted during weekday daytime hours, the time when the above connection fault is detected does not fall within the time for the contract, so that the supporting staff will respond to the connection fault in business hours on the following day (for example, the supporting staff calls the customer). As a result, responding staffs have to concentrate on responding to the incidents on a day after a holiday (for example, on Monday), causing a problem in that it is difficult for the staffs to quickly respond thereto.
FIG. 20 is a block diagram describing an example of the issuance process of a connection fault notification by the remote notification service, which is studied by inventors and not a prior art, that is not opened and published. The customer apparatus (customer apparatus A to D) are processing apparatus used by the customers. A center 100 holds information on connection date and time, connection state and contract time on a customer apparatus basis. The connection date and time represent a predetermined regular connection time when the customer apparatus sends a connection mail. The connection state represents a state of communicative connection between the customer apparatus and the center 100. The contract time represents a support contract time for the customer apparatus. For example, the regular connection time for the customer apparatus A is two o'clock every day, the regular connection time for the customer apparatus B is three o'clock every day, the regular connection time for the customer apparatus C is four o'clock every day and the regular connection time for the customer apparatus D is five o'clock every day. The support contract time for the customer apparatus A and B is 24 hours. The support contract time for the customer apparatus C and D starts at nine o'clock and ends at nineteen o'clock on weekdays.
The center 100 monitors whether a connection mail arrives from each customer apparatus at the regular connection time. When the center 100 confirms that the connection mail arrives from the customer apparatus at the regular connection time, the center determines that a state of communicative connection between the customer apparatus is OK (the center is communicatively connected to the customer apparatus). When the center confirms that the connection mail does not arrive from the customer apparatus at the regular connection time, the center determines that the state of communicative connection between the customer apparatus is NG (the center is not communicatively connected to the customer apparatus). For example, as illustrated in #1 in FIG. 20, when the connection mail does not arrive from the customer apparatus A at two o'clock being the regular connection time, the center 100 determines that the center 100 is not communicatively connected to the customer apparatus A and issues an incident (or a connection fault notification) corresponding to the customer apparatus A (refer to #2 in FIG. 20). The supporting staff calls the customer of the customer apparatus A based on the content of the incident to confirm the state of the apparatus A (refer to #3 in FIG. 20).
As indicated by #4 and #5 in FIG. 20, when the connection mail does not arrive from the customer apparatus C and D at the regular connection time, the center 100 determines that the center 100 is not communicatively connected to the customer apparatus C and D and issues incidents corresponding to the customer apparatus C and D (refer to #6 and #7 in FIG. 20). The supporting staff confirms based on the content of the incident that the present time (when it was confirmed that the connection mail did not arrive) does not fall within the support contract time (refer to #8 in FIG. 20) and calls the customers corresponding to the customer apparatus C and D on the next business day to confirm the state of the apparatus C and D (refer to #9 in FIG. 20). In the issuance process of the connection fault notification described with reference to FIG. 20, as illustrated in #6 and #7 in FIG. 20, even if the time when it was determined that the center 100 is not communicatively connected to the customer apparatus does not fall within the support contract time for the customer apparatus, the center 100 issues the incident. As a result, the supporting staff needs to confirm the issued incident content outside the support contract time and is burdened with a heavy load.
The present invention has for its object to provide a connection monitoring method of suppressing the issuance of a connection fault notification in the case where the time at which it cannot be confirmed that the center is communicatively connected to the customer apparatus does not fall within the support contract time for the customer.